A Landowner’s Guide to Working with Sportsmen in Virginia

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Private landowners, including forest industries, control access to 50 percent of the land suitable for outdoor recreation in Virginia. In the Old Dominion there are about 500,000 licensed hunters and over one million anglers. In addition, the numbers of hikers, canoeists, picnickers, campers, berry pickers, and bird watchers are growing each year. Many landowners report undesirable levels of trespass, litter, property damage, and game law violations. Consequently, owners of private lands suitable for public outdoor recreation are increasingly reluctant to permit public access to those lands.